“Climate change is not a lie, do not let our planet die!”

“No more coal, no more oil, keep your tar sands in the soil.”

Those were some of the phrases shouted by students and other activists Friday on a march from SU’s Quad to Forman Park. Climate change strikes, like this one, took place across the nation and the globe, and the chants weren’t just coming from younger generations.

It can be tempting to raise our concerns about issues like environmental health in the most convenient way, to cause the littlest disruptions to the school day and the city. But climate change itself is not convenient, and if we don’t step up to combat such a crisis aggressively, no one else will.

At the strike, speakers of all backgrounds — retired veterans, international activists — all had opinions that received cheers from the audience. These activists were not just high schoolers standing on their school’s football field, but pregnant women with children, old men playing drums, high schoolers, graduate students and many others joined together to express their outrage over institutional inaction on climate change.

Bringing awareness to issues like climate change is only half the battle, however. Concrete actions, like registering to vote, are the best ways to have your voice heard in policy changes.

Even though politics does play a role in environmental policy making, the looming issue of climate change is not and should not be political. Although some cheers did polarize the right and the left, both parties live on the same planet. What we need to do now is vote people into office who will make the change towards the greener tomorrow we want to see.

Our activism can’t just be on display at protests like this one. Combating climate change has to be an active thought in our life and a conscientious choice in our daily decisions if we want to see a result. Protests like these are great for uniting and organizing, but it’s up to us as individuals in Syracuse, Central New York and across the United States to channel our inner Greta Thunberg and fight for what we want and deserve.

Mia Givens is a freshman at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at migivens@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter at @miiagiivens.

Published on September 23, 2019 at 1:21 am